New perspective on the pathophysiology of panic: merging serotonin and opioids in the periaqueductal gray.

ABSTRACT: Panic disorder patients are vulnerable to recurrent panic attacks. Two neurochemical hypotheses have been proposed to explain this susceptibility. The first assumes that panic patients have deficient serotonergic inhibition of neurons localized in the dorsal periaqueductal gray matter of the midbrain that organize defensive reactions to cope with proximal threats and of sympathomotor control areas of the rostral ventrolateral medulla that generate most of the neurovegetative symptoms of the panic attack. The second suggests that endogenous opioids buffer normal subjects from the behavioral and physiological manifestations of the panic attack, and their deficit brings about heightened suffocation sensitivity and separation anxiety in panic patients, making them more vulnerable to panic atta

SUBMITTER: Graeff FG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3854168 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature